JapanExpo in France

The French have been holding these expos for over a decade, and this report comes from this year's event in Paris. It is actually quite interesting, particularly the panel – but also to see the number of French fans and cosplayers there are, a sprinkling of whom spoke to camera (along with a couple of Japanese people).

It is a clear illustration of what I have been saying for a while now: that culture is spreading throughout the world in this way, and we in Britain are if anything behind the curve these days but slowly cottoning onto it all...

Japan Mode

This comes across as a very good series, in English, about Japanese culture in various locations. It is genuinely interesting – to just about anyone I should think – and is presented by Danny Choo for whom I have considerable regard. That name alone meant that I was definitely going to watch what turned out to be a highly professionally produced and well-researched programme.

Mind you, Aya seems to get the better end of the deal, both in and out of the studio...

Why this first upload is episode ten I have no idea; but Ginza is certainly interesting, from sweets to tea and even kimonos. The following programme (which I hope will also be uploaded) is in Roppongi, which regular visitors here will recall I recently 'visited' on the 'blog for a Miku Augmented Reality experience.

Do stick with this even if you're not particularly interested in Japanese culture and tradition: I think you'll agree that it was worth it...

Snow Festival

Japan has been mounting these Snow Festivals I have recently been referencing, again in Sapporo, for a long time. This year's was the 64th, and here are just some snippets of and from the 2013 event (this is not the original video of the event that I embedded here, but that one seems to have some accessibility issues, so I've now found another).

Surprising? Perhaps; but we in Britain tend to underestimate the Japanese cultural side of life, being a lot more familiar with their technology and not having any particular reason to see beyond that. Maybe we should...


Also coping with the weather is the delightful Snow Miku tram...

Gangnam Culture

This at The Commentator poses a question that, I suppose, hasn't really been looked at all that much in the mainstream media – probably because economic, political and military matters dominate those sources for obvious enough reasons.

It is true, though, that cultural influences spreading through the (nowadays much more open, thanks to the Internet) international scene are making their mark just as much.

I have highlighted in recent weeks a fair range of far-eastern cultural examples that have gained great popularity in other parts of the world, including my own country (though you might need to check out a selection of newsgroups and other types of forum to discover just how big this really has become), and it goes a long way beyond Gangnam Style that is quite rightly being held up as the big example of the present day.

Personally, I think that as we find through their culture that the peoples of these other nations are really just like us at heart – with cultural differences, yes, but they still live lives that are not significantly different from our own (apart from in the Communist-run States, of course, but that's only because of impositions and restrictions) – barriers will continue to be dismantled and we shall more naturally become more of a one-world species than could ever be done by those whose agenda is to impose their New World Order upon us.

We'd also be a more natural and thriving race, rather than a self-appointed elite with the rest of us no more than slaves, as is the intention by those with that agenda.

Thus I welcome and – as has been evident for a long time now – embrace this trend, and shall continue to showcase examples I discover, though not as frequently as I have during these past few weeks. Indeed, this now gives me the excuse to post that slightly cheeky Lucky Star version of Gangnam Style after all, which is a it of a turn-up that I couldn't have predicted(!)